Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Source: Wikipedia: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Humanitarian & Peace • Historical Archive • 🇺🇸 United States • 2 views

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 🇺🇸

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
["Poet", "Abolitionist", "Author", "Co-Founder of the NACW"]
Born Sep 24, 1825 🇺🇸 Baltimore (Maryland), United States
Passed Away Feb 22, 1911 Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), United States
Lifespan 85 years old
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Notice / Correction
"Bury me in a free land; make me a grave where'er you will, in a lowly plain, or a lofty hill, but not in a land where men are slaves."

Archival Overview

Celebrated African American abolitionist orator and poet acclaimed as the 'Mother of African American Journalism', whose bestselling poetry and 1892 novel 'Iola Leroy' championed Black freedom, temperance, and women's rights.

Biographical Record

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911) was born to free Black parents in Baltimore and worked as an Underground Railroad operative in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In 1854, her published collection 'Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects' sold over 10,000 copies, with proceeds directly funding anti-slavery efforts.

A spellbinding orator, Harper traveled across twenty states delivering lectures for the Maine and Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Societies. In 1896, she co-founded the National Association of Colored Women alongside Harriet Tubman and Ida B. Wells, serving as its first vice president.

Key Life Milestones

1854

Publication of 'Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects'

Published her historic poetry collection, financing Underground Railroad rescue missions.

1892

Publication of 'Iola Leroy'

Published one of the first major novels by an African American woman, depicting post-Civil War reconstruction.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Eden Cemetery
Collingdale (Pennsylvania), United States
GPS: 39.9133, -75.2758
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